State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Decreases Stock Holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 40.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 82,667 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 55,681 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $14,453,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,529,191 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,845,958,000 after purchasing an additional 151,311 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. lifted its stake in Cheniere Energy by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 3,242,899 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $566,956,000 after buying an additional 273,588 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,960,944 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $316,261,000 after buying an additional 192,934 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Cheniere Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $308,910,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 12.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,601,172 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $255,372,000 after acquiring an additional 181,886 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:LNG opened at $179.10 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $180.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $166.76. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $152.31 and a 1-year high of $187.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.95.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The energy company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $2.13. The firm had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.52 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 39.42% and a net margin of 27.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.61 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.435 per share. This represents a $1.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.48%.

Cheniere Energy declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, June 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the energy company to reacquire up to 9.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LNG. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Cheniere Energy from $208.00 to $204.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $213.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $194.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cheniere Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $196.00.

About Cheniere Energy

Cheniere Energy, Inc, an energy infrastructure company, primarily engages in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) related businesses in the United States. It owns and operates the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana; and the Corpus Christi LNG terminal near Corpus Christi, Texas. The company also owns Creole Trail pipeline, a 94-mile natural gas supply pipeline that interconnects the Sabine Pass LNG Terminal with several interstate and intrastate pipelines; and operates Corpus Christi pipeline, a 21.5-mile natural gas supply pipeline that interconnects the Corpus Christi LNG terminal with various interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines.